Fully automatic washing machine

ABSTRACT

A fully automatic washing machine capable of performing a stable driving at high speed during a spin-drying cycle by increasing the strength of a bowl part of a drum, the washing machine including a cabinet, a tub provided at an inside the cabinet, a drum rotatably provided at an inside the tub, a driving apparatus provided at a lower side portion of the drum to rotate the drum, and a flange shaft coupled to a lower portion of the drum to be connected to the driving apparatus, the drum includes a body part and a bowl part having a rim part provided with a lower end thereof, and a bottom part provided at a lower end portion of the rim part, and the flange shaft is provided to be bent while extending from the bottom part to the upper end portion of the rim part.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0029897, filed on Mar. 20, 2013, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a fully automatic washing machine having an improved structure of a flange shaft being coupled to a drum.

2. Description of the Related Art

A fully automatic washing machine is an apparatus to wash clothes by using a power, and generally includes a tub to store wash water, a drum rotatably installed at an inside the tub, a pulsator rotatably installed at a bottom of the drum, and a motor and a clutch to rotatably drive the drum and the pulsator.

In a state that a laundry and wash water are input in the drum, when the drum and the pulsator are rotated, the pulsator agitates the laundry input in the drum along with the wash water, and thus the stain on the laundry is removed.

In general, the drum of the fully automatic washing machine is coupled to the flange shaft, and as the flange shaft is rotated while connected to the motor and the clutch through a rotating shaft, the drum is rotated.

At the time of the fully automatic washing machine is rotated at high speed, since the strength of a bowl part to which the flange shaft is coupled is weak, the strength of the bowl part is needed to be increased, and as to increase the strength of the bowl part, a mechanical limitation is present.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is an aspect of the present disclosure to provide a fully automatic washing machine to drive in a stable manner at high speed during a spin-dry cycle by increasing the strength of a bowl part of a drum.

Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a fully automatic washing machine includes a cabinet, a tub, a drum, a driving apparatus and a flange shaft. The tub may be provided at an inside the cabinet to store wash water therein. The drum may be rotatably provided at an inside the tub. The driving apparatus may be provided at a lower side of the drum to rotate the drum. The flange shaft may be coupled to a lower portion of the drum so as to be connected to the driving apparatus, such that a rotating force of the driving apparatus is delivered to the drum. The drum includes a body part and a bowl part. The body part may have the shape of a cylinder. The bowl part may have a rim part provided with a lower end thereof having a diameter smaller than a diameter of an upper end thereof, the upper end coupled to a lower portion of the body part, and a bottom part provided at a lower end of the rim part in a way to have a diameter smaller than a diameter of the body part to form a bottom of the drum. The flange shaft may be provided to be bent while extending from the bottom part to the upper end of the rim part.

The driving apparatus may include a rotating shaft connected to the flange shaft to rotate the flange shaft, and a pulsator may be provided at a bottom of an inside the drum so as to rotate while being connected to the rotating shaft.

The flange shaft may be provided at a central portion thereof with a penetrating hole to which the rotating shaft is coupled in a penetrative manner, and the pulsator may be provided at a central portion thereof with a shaft coupling part to which the rotating shaft penetrating the penetrating hole is coupled.

A hole having a diameter smaller than a diameter the pulsator may be provided at a central portion of the bottom part, and the rotating shaft penetrating the penetrating hole may be coupled to the shaft coupling part by passing through the hole.

The flange shaft may include a hub part, at which the penetrating hole is provided, and a plurality of flange parts extending from the hub part radially outwardly to be coupled to the bowl part.

The flange part may include a horizontal part extending from the hub part to an end portion of the bottom part in parallel to the hub part so as to be coupled to the bottom part, and an extension part extending upward from the horizontal part to the upper end portion of the rim part so as to be coupled to the rim part.

A first coupling hole may be provided at the horizontal part and the extension part, and a second coupling hole may be provided at the bottom part and the rim part at a position corresponding to the first coupling hole, so that the flange shaft is coupled to the bowl part by a screw.

The flange shaft may be injection-molded on the bowl part so as to be integrally formed with the bowl part.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a fully automatic washing machine includes a cabinet, a tub, a drum, a driving apparatus, and a flange shaft. The tub may be provided at an inside the cabinet to store wash water. The drum may be rotatably provided at an inside the tub, the drum including a body part provided with a shape of a cylinder, and a bowl part provided in a way to have a diameter reduced downward from the body part so as to support the body part. The driving apparatus may be provided at a lower side portion of the drum to rotate the drum. The flange shaft may be coupled to the bowl part so as to be connected to the driving apparatus, such that a rotating force of the driving apparatus is delivered to the drum. The flange shaft includes a hub part provided in a circular shape at a central portion of the flange shaft, and a plurality of flange parts extending from the hub part radially outwardly to be coupled to the bowl part. The flange part may be provided to be bent while extending to an upper end portion of the bowl part to correspond to a shape of the bowl part. The bowl part may include a rim part provided with a lower end portion thereof having a diameter smaller than a diameter of an upper end portion thereof, the upper end portion coupled to a lower portion of the body part, and a bottom part provided at a lower end portion of the rim part in a way to have a diameter smaller than a diameter of the body part to form a bottom of the drum.

The hub part may be formed with a penetrating hole, to which a rotating shaft of the driving apparatus is coupled in a penetrative manner.

The flange part may include a horizontal part extending from the hub part to an end portion of the bottom part in parallel to the hub part so as to be coupled to the bottom part, and an extension part extending upward from the horizontal part to the upper end portion of the rim part so as to be coupled to the rim part.

A first coupling hole may be provided at the horizontal part and the extension part, and a second coupling hole may be provided at the bottom part and the rim part at a position corresponding to the first coupling hole, so that the flange shaft is coupled to the bowl part by a screw.

The flange shaft may be injection-molded to the bowl part to be integrally provided with the bowl part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a fully automatic washing machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a portion of a fully automatic washing machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a bowl part and a flange shaft in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating a shovel provided at a bowl part in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a drawing illustrating a flange shaft coupled to a bowl part by a screw in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a drawing illustrating a flange shaft integrally formed with a bowl part through insert-molding in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like components throughout.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of a fully automatic washing machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As illustrated on FIG. 1, a washing machine includes a cabinet 10 forming an external appearance the of the washing machine, a tub 20 provided to store wash water in the cabinet 10, a drum 30 rotatably disposed at an inside the tub 20 to accommodate laundry, a driving apparatus 40 disposed at a lower side portion of the drum 30 to rotate the drum 30, and a flange shaft 100 coupled to a lower portion of the drum 30 in a way to be connected to the driving apparatus 40 to deliver the rotating force of the driving apparatus 40 to the drum 30.

At an upper side portion of the cabinet 10, an upper cover 13 having a laundry inlet 11 as to input laundry to an inside the drum 30 is provided, and at the upper cover 13, a door 15 to open/close the laundry inlet 11 may be provided.

The tub 20 is provided in a way for wash water to be stored, and by a suspension apparatus 21, the tub 20 may be disposed at an inside the cabinet 10 in a way to be supported at the cabinet 10.

The drum 30 is provided with an inside thereof in of the shape of an approximate empty cylinder, and is rotatably disposed at an inside the tub 20.

At a side surface of the drum 30, a plurality of penetrating holes 37 allowing wash water to pass therethrough between inside and outside the drum 30, at an upper side portion of the drum 30, a balancer 38 may be provided.

At a bottom of the drum 30, a pulsator 39 is rotatably installed, and the pulsator 39 is performs a role to agitate the laundry introduced to an inside the drum 30 along with wash water.

At an upper side portion of the drum 30, a water supplying apparatus 50 supplies wash water to an inside the tub 20 is installed.

The water supplying apparatus 50 includes a water supplying valve 53 to control water supply, and a water supplying pipe 51 connect the water supplying valve 53 to a detergent supplying apparatus 60, which is to be described later.

One side portion of the water supplying pipe 51 is connected to an outside water supplying source (not shown), and the other side portion of the water supplying pipe 51 is connected to the detergent supplying apparatus 60.

The detergent supplying apparatus 60 includes a case 61 provided at an inside the upper cover 13, and a detergent container 63 detachably mounted at the case 61 and in which each detergent is contained.

At a lower portion of the case 61, a discharging port 65 discharges the wash water having detergent dissolved is formed.

The water supplied through the water supplying pipe 51 is passed through the detergent supplying apparatus 60 and is supplied to an inside the drum 30 along with detergent.

At a lower side portion of the drum 30, a draining apparatus 70 discharges wash water to an outside the cabinet 10 after a washing cycle or a spin-drying cycle is completed, and the driving apparatus 40 to rotate the drum 30 are provided.

The draining apparatus 70 includes a draining pipe 71 connected to a lower portion of the tub 20 to guide water to be discharged to an outside, and a draining valve 73 disposed at the draining pipe 71 to open/close the draining pipe 71

The driving apparatus 40 is disposed at a lower side portion of the tub 20, and rotates the drum 30 connected to the driving apparatus 40, by generating rotating force after receiving power.

The driving apparatus 40 includes a clutch 41 selectively rotating the drum 30 and the pulsator 39, a driving motor 43 to drive the clutch 41, and a rotating shaft 45 connected to a flange shaft 100, which is coupled to a lower portion of the drum 30, to rotate the flange shaft 100.

Hereinafter, the structure of the flange shaft, which is coupled to a lower portion of the drum to deliver the rotating force of the driving apparatus to rotate the drum, will be described in detail.

As illustrated on FIGS. 1 to 3, the drum 30 includes a body part 31 having the shape of a cylinder, and a bowl part 32 disposed at a lower side portion of the body part 31 to support the body part 31.

The body part 31 is provided with the shape of a cylinder having an empty inside thereof, while each of the upper surface and the lower surface thereof is open, and at the side surface of the body part 31, the plurality of penetrating holes 37 are provided so that wash water may be able to pass therethrough between the inside and outside the drum 30.

Through the open upper surface of the body part 31, laundry may be inserted into or withdrawn from an inside the drum 30, and the open lower surface of the body part 31 may be covered by the bowl part 32.

The bowl part 32 includes a rim part 33, which is coupled to a rim of the open lower surface of the body part 31 through seaming, and is provided with a lower end portion thereof having a diameter smaller than a diameter of a upper end portion thereof so that the upper end portion thereof is coupled to a lower portion of the body part 31, and a bottom part 34 provided at a lower end portion of the rim part 33 while having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the body part 31 to form a bottom of the drum 30.

The rim part 33 is provided with the upper end portion thereof having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the lower portion of the body part 31 and with the lower end portion thereof having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the upper end portion of the rim part 33, such that the upper end portion of the rim part 33 is coupled to a lower portion of the body part 31 and the bottom part 34 is provided at the lower end portion of the rim part 33.

On the drawing, the diameter of the lower end portion of the rim part 33 is illustrated in a way to be smaller than the diameter of the upper end portion of the rim part 33, but is not limited hereto, and the diameters of the upper end portion and lower end portion of the rim part 33 may be provided to be about the same.

At a central portion of the bottom part 34, a hole 34 a having a smaller diameter than a diameter of the pulsator 39 is provided, and through the hole 34 a, a rotating shaft 45 of the driving apparatus 40 is connected to the pulsator 39.

The hole 34 a, since the pulsator 39 provided at an upper portion of the bottom part 34 has a diameter larger than the diameter of the hole 34 a, is covered by the pulsator 39 so that the wash water at an inside the drum 30 may not be discharged to an outside through the hole 34 a.

At the central portion of the pulsator 39, a shaft coupling part 39 a to which the rotating shaft 45 is coupled is provided, and the pulsator 39 coupled to the rotating shaft 45 is rotated by the driving apparatus 40.

At the rim part 33, at least one opening 33 a may be formed so that the wash water at an outside the drum 30 may flow to an inside the drum 30, and at the opening 33 a, a shovel 36 draws the wash water at an outside the drum 30 upward to an inside the drum 30 may be provided.

The shovel 36 may be able to draw the wash water at an outside the drum 30 upward to an inside the drum 30 as the drum 30 is rotated.

As illustrated on FIG. 4, the shovel 36 may include an inclination part 36 a having an inclination to draw upward wash water, and a supporting part 36 b to support the inclination part 36 a, and the inclination part 36 a may be provided in a panel shape of a rectangle in an approximate manner.

As illustrated on FIGS. 1 to 3, at a lower side portion of the drum 30, the driving apparatus 40 to rotate the drum 30 is provided, and the driving apparatus 40 is connected to the flange shaft 100 coupled to the lower portion of the drum 30 to rotate the flange shaft 100, so that the drum 30 is rotated.

The rotating shaft 45 of the driving apparatus 40 is connected to the flange shaft 100 and to the pulsator 39, which is provided at a bottom of the drum 30, to rotate the flange shaft 100 and the pulsator 39, and the flange shaft 100 and the pulsator 39 are selectively rotated by the clutch 41 of the driving apparatus 40.

Thus, the rotating force generated by the driving motor 43 is delivered to the clutch 41, and the rotating force delivered to the clutch 41 selectively rotates the flange shaft 100 and the pulsator 39, which are connected by the rotating shaft 45, through the rotating shaft 45.

When the flange shaft 100 is rotated by the clutch 41, the drum 30 coupled to the flange shaft 100 is rotated, and when the pulsator 39 is rotated by the clutch 41, the flange shaft 100 is not rotated, and thus the drum 30 coupled to the flange shaft 100 is not rotated.

The flange shaft 100 coupled to the lower portion of the drum 30 includes a hub part 110 provided at a central portion thereof with a penetrating hole 111, to which the rotating shaft 45 is coupled in a penetrative manner, and a plurality of flange parts 120 extending radially outwardly from the hub part 110 and coupled to the bowl part 32 of the drum 30.

The hub part 110 is coupled to the rotating shaft 45 that passes through the penetrating hole 111 formed at the hub part 110, and thus is rotated by the rotating shaft 45, and the rotating shaft 45 passing through the penetrating hole 111 is coupled to the shaft coupling part 39 a of the pulsator 30.

The flange part 120 is provided in plurality in a way to be extended in a radial outer side portion of the hub part 110, and includes a horizontal part 121 extended from the hub part 110 to an end portion of the bottom part 34 of the bowl part 32 in a horizontal manner, and an extension part 123 extending from the horizontal part 121 to the upper end portion of the rim part 33 of the bowl part 32 upward.

The extension part 123 is provided in a bent manner from the horizontal part 121 upward to correspond to the shape of the bowl part 32.

As the flange part 120 of the flange shaft 100 includes the horizontal part 121 and the extension part 123 bent from the horizontal part 121, the horizontal part 121 is coupled to the bottom part 34 of the bowl part 32, and the extension part 123 is coupled to the rim part 33 of the bowl part 32, so that the flange shaft 100 is coupled to the bowl part 32 while surrounding the horizontal part 121 of the bowl part 32, not only surrounding the extension part 123.

As illustrated on FIGS. 3 to 5, at each of the extension part 123 and the horizontal part 121, a first coupling hole 125 to couple to the bowl part 32 is provided, and at each of the rim part 33 and the bottom part 34 of the bowl part 32 coupled to the flange shaft 100, a second coupling hole 35 is provided at the position corresponding to the position of the first coupling hole 125.

The flange shaft 10 is coupled to the bowl part 32 of the drum 30 by a fastening member such as a screw through the first coupling hole 125 and the second coupling hole 35.

As illustrated on FIG. 6, the flange shaft 100 is insert-molded to the bowl part 32 of the drum 30 to be integrally provided with the bowl part 32.

As the flange shaft 100 is provided in a way to surround the horizontal part 121 and the extension part 123 of the bowl part 32, which corresponds to a lower portion of the drum 30, the strength of the bowl part 32 is enforced by the flange shaft 100, so that in a case when the drum 30 is rotated at high speed, the bowl part 32 may be able to maintain sufficient strength, and through such, the driving of the fully automatic washing machine may be performed in a stable manner.

As is apparent from the above, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, by increasing the strength of a bowl part provided at a lower portion of a drum, a stable driving of the drum may be realized even at high speed, and thus spin-dry performance and energy efficiency may be enhanced

Although a few embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A fully automatic washing machine, comprising: a cabinet; a tub provided at an inside the cabinet to store wash water therein; a drum rotatably provided at an inside the tub; a driving apparatus provided at a lower side portion of the drum to rotate the drum; and a flange shaft coupled to a lower portion of the drum so as to be connected to the driving apparatus, such that a rotating force of the driving apparatus is delivered to the drum, wherein the drum comprises: a body part having the shape of a cylinder; and a bowl part having a rim part provided with a lower end portion thereof having a diameter smaller than a diameter of an upper end portion thereof, the upper end portion coupled to a lower portion of the body part, and a bottom part provided at a lower end portion of the rim part and have a diameter smaller than a diameter of the body part to form a bottom of the drum, and wherein the flange shaft is provided to be bent while extending from the bottom part to the upper end portion of the rim part.
 2. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 1, wherein: the driving apparatus includes a rotating shaft connected to the flange shaft to rotate the flange shaft, and a pulsator is provided at a bottom of an inside the drum so as to rotate while being connected to the rotating shaft.
 3. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 2, wherein: the flange shaft is provided at a central portion thereof with a penetrating hole to which the rotating shaft is coupled in a penetrative manner, and the pulsator is provided at a central portion thereof with a shaft coupling part to which the rotating shaft penetrating the penetrating hole is coupled.
 4. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 3, wherein: a hole having a diameter smaller than a diameter the pulsator is provided at a central portion of the bottom part, and the rotating shaft penetrating the penetrating hole is coupled to the shaft coupling part by passing through the hole.
 5. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 3, wherein: the flange shaft includes a hub part at which the penetrating hole is provided, and a plurality of flange parts extending from the hub part radially outwardly to be coupled to the bowl part.
 6. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 5, wherein: the flange part includes a horizontal part extending from the hub part to be coupled to the bottom part, and an extension part extending upward from the horizontal part to the upper end portion of the rim part so as to be coupled to the rim part.
 7. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 6, wherein: a first coupling hole is provided at the horizontal part and the extension part, and a second coupling hole is provided at the bottom part and the rim part at a position corresponding to the first coupling hole, so that the flange shaft is coupled to the bowl part by a fastening member.
 8. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 1, wherein: the flange shaft is injection-molded on the bowl part so as to be integrally formed with the bowl part.
 9. A fully automatic washing machine, comprising: a cabinet; a tub provided at an inside the cabinet to store wash water; a drum rotatably provided at an inside the tub, the drum including a body part having a shape of a cylinder, and a bowl part having a diameter reduced downward from the body part so as to support the body part; a driving apparatus provided at a lower side portion of the drum to rotate the drum; and a flange shaft coupled to the bowl part so as to be connected to the driving apparatus, such that a rotating force of the driving apparatus is delivered to the drum, wherein the flange shaft, comprises: a hub part provided in a circular shape at a central portion of the flange shaft; and a plurality of flange parts extending from the hub part radially outwardly to be coupled to the bowl part, the flange part being bent while extending to an upper end portion of the bowl part to correspond to a shape of the bowl part.
 10. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 9, wherein: the bowl part includes a rim part provided at a lower end portion thereof having a diameter smaller than a diameter of an upper end portion thereof, the upper end portion coupled to a lower portion of the body part, and a bottom part provided at a lower end portion of the rim part and have a diameter smaller than a diameter of the body part to form a bottom of the drum.
 11. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 10, wherein: the hub part is formed with a penetrating hole, to which a rotating shaft of the driving apparatus is coupled in a penetrative manner.
 12. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 11, wherein: the flange part includes a horizontal part horizontally extending from the hub part so as to be coupled to the bottom part, and an extension part extending upward from the horizontal part to the upper end portion of the rim part so as to be coupled to the rim part.
 13. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 12, wherein: a first coupling hole is provided at the horizontal part and the extension part, and a second coupling hole is provided at the bottom part and the rim part at a position corresponding to the first coupling hole, so that the flange shaft is coupled to the bowl part by a fastening member.
 14. The fully automatic washing machine of claim 9, wherein: the flange shaft is injection-molded to the bowl part to be integrally provided with the bowl part. 